Ingredients
Fish
- 300 gsalted smoked herring, bought
- boiling water, for soaking
Stew
- 3 tbspcoconut or vegetable oil
- 2onions, sliced
- 1red pepper, sliced
- 4 clovesgarlic, crushed
- 3spring onions, sliced
- 2tomatoes, chopped
- 1 sprigfresh thyme
- 1whole scotch bonnet, left unbroken
- black pepper
- juice of 1 lime
To serve
- bakes, or boiled green fig and dumplings
Directions
- Put the herring in a bowl, cover with boiling water and leave for 20 minutes. Drain, cover with fresh boiling water and leave another 20 minutes. Taste a shred: it should be pleasantly salty rather than fierce. If it is still harsh, do it a third time.
- Drain, and pull the flesh off the skin and bones with your fingers, shredding it as you go. Go through it twice for bones — smoked herring carries a lot of fine ones.
- Heat the oil and cook the onion, pepper and garlic over medium heat for 8 minutes until soft and beginning to colour.
- Add the tomato, spring onion and thyme and cook another 5 minutes until it comes together into a sauce.
- Stir in the shredded fish and the whole scotch bonnet and cook gently for 5 minutes. Leave the pepper whole — it perfumes the pan, and split, it makes something most people cannot eat.
- Take out the scotch bonnet, season with black pepper and lime, and taste before adding any salt at all. There is usually none needed.
- Serve hot with fried bakes, or with boiled green fig and dumplings.
Technique
- Soak in changes of boiling water and taste every time. Salted smoked herring varies enormously and an under-soaked batch is inedible.
- Never salt the pan before the fish goes in. The fish brings all of it.
- The scotch bonnet goes in whole and comes out whole. Anyone who wants the heat can burst theirs in their own bowl.
Substitutions
- Salt cod, prepared the same way, which is used interchangeably in Dominica.
- Smoked mackerel, which needs much less soaking.
Variations
- Served cold as a filling for bakes rather than hot from the pan.
- Some cooks add a little coconut milk at the end, which softens the salt.
History
Cheap imported smoked fish that became a Dominican staple, eaten with bakes and green fig.
Frequently asked questions
What is Smoked herring?
Smoked herring is a charcuterie & cured from Dominica: salt-smoked herring soaked, shredded and cooked with onion and pepper. Cheap imported smoked fish that became a Dominican staple, eaten with bakes and green fig.
How long does Smoked herring take to make?
Smoked herring takes 15 min plus 1 hour soaking of preparation and 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Smoked herring?
Yes, within limits. Salt cod, prepared the same way, which is used interchangeably in Dominica. Smoked mackerel, which needs much less soaking.
What is the most important thing to get right in Smoked herring?
Put the herring in a bowl, cover with boiling water and leave for 20 minutes. Drain, cover with fresh boiling water and leave another 20 minutes. Taste a shred: it should be pleasantly salty rather than fierce. If it is still harsh, do it a third time.
